Abstract

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) correlates with the 2003 European Security Strategy (ESS). Despite being different and independent policy initiatives, the ESS aimed at nurturing a ring of well-governed states beyond European Union (EU) border lines, that is, focusing predominantly on the EU’s neighbourhood (Council of the European Union 2003; Commission of the European Communities 2003; Demmelhuber and Kaunert 2014). From early 2017 and the time of finalizing this chapter, the risk of violent conflicts, civil wars and weak states with dysfunctional societies in the southern neighbourhood and corresponding security threats, including political challenges for the ENP, are hardly new and have existed since the beginning of the ENP in 2003 (Commission of the European Communities 2003).